Shower and tub enclosure



Dec. 31, 1968 Filed March 17. 1966 r. ROCKEY 3,418,666

SHOWER AND TUB ENCLOSURE Sheet 1 of INVENTOR. THOMAS ROCKEY ATTORNEY.

Dec. 31, 1968 T. ROCKEY 3,413,666

SHOWER A N D T U B E N C L O S U RE Filed March 17. 1966 Sheet 2 of 4 lN VEN TOR.

THOMAS ROCKEY syy yweay ATTORNEY.

Dec. 31, 1968 ROCKEY 3,418,666

I SHOWER AND TUB ENCLOSURE Filed March 17, 1966 Sheet 3 of I N VEN TOR.

3 moms ROCKEY y AT TOR N EY.

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United States Patent 3,418,666 SHUWER AND TUB ENCLOSURE Thomas Rockey,Miami, Fla., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Kinlread IndustriesIncorporated, Chicago, 111., a corporation Filed Mar. 17, 1966, Ser. No.535,117 1 Claim. (Cl. 4-154) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shower closurehaving a stanchion guiding and supporting structure including a pair ofrollers on an axle fitted in a box-like channel member on a bracketentering the member through an elongated slot. The roller axle fitsthrough an elongated vertical slot in the bracket. A single fastenersecures to the stanchion both the bracket and a plate for lockingflexible panels to the stanchion.

This invention relates to an enclosure which is adapted to be used inthe bath or shower area of a home, and, more particularly, to a rollingtype closure including stanchions moveable in the plane of the closureand pliable panels adapted to be traveled into looped engagement out ofthe plane of closure when the closure is opened.

As is perhaps well known, many home owners prefer to enclose theirshower area of bathtub area of their homes and, in the past, there havebeen numerous devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Letters Patent No.2,897,515, which pertain to such structures. The instant invention hasas an object the provision of an enclosure which includes rollers tofacilitate translation of the stanchions of the enclosure and which iscomposed of extruded members of generally symmetrical configuration sothat the constituent elements may be readily assembled at a job site andinstalled by a home owner.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a tubenclosure of the type described hereinafter which includes a frameadapted to be connected to a wall and define a closure plane,jamb-engaging stanchions and intermediate stanchions interconnected bymeans of pliable panels arranged so that on rolling movement of thestanchion connections to the frame the panels fold out of the plane ofclosure and the stanchions may be moved into close adjacentrelationship, and means to hold the enclosure in an open position.

It is another object of this invention to provide an enclosure for abathroom of a home which is composed of extruded materials ofsymmetrical construction whereby the elements are adapted to beinterchanged and readily assembled and installed with a minimum amountof instruction by a home owner.

It is another object of this invention to provide an enclosure which issimple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and is otherwisewell adapted for the purposes for which it is intended as is set forthmore fully hereinafter and which provides a readily installed tubenclosure and is adapted to be shipped in a knocked'down version.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the instant bath enclosure in a closedposition as viewed from the exterior of the enclosed area;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view similar to that of FIG. 1 and illustratingthe bath enclosure in an open position;

FIG. 3 is a partial elevation view of the jamb end of the bath enclosureas viewed from the inside of the enclosed area in contrast to the viewof FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in cross section taken on the plane indicated by theline 44 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a view in cross section taken on the plane indicated by theline 55 of FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a view in cross section taken along the plane indicated by theline 66 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a partial view of FIG. 2 and illustrating the keeper forholding the enclosure in the position there illustrated; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view in cross section of that area indicated bythe arrow 8 in FIG. 6 and illustrating the interconnection of thepliable panels and the stanchion members.

Referring now to the drawings, the numerals 12 and 14 designate jambmembers to be connected to the walls on either side of a tub or showercompartment in upstanding vertical relation while the numerals 16 and 18designate upper and lower guides in bridging relation with respect tothe jambs as a head and sill respectively; in combination, the guidesand the jamb define a frame for the closure. The jamb members areconnected to the Wall 22 by suitable means as by the screws 24. As isapparent in FIG. 6 the jamb members are of generally H-shaped crosssection throughout their length and define a longer pair of legs 26 and28 and a shorter pair of legs 30 and 32 with the aforesaid screw 24connecting the web 36 of the jamb members to the wall. The upper andlower ends of the web are cutoff so that the end of the head and sillmay be received therein and, in the case of the head, be supported innesting relation on the web of the jambs. To secure it in position ascrew 38 may be provided to interconnect the jamb and the header, whilethe sill may be connected to the upper surface of a bathtub or floor 34by means of a putty or adhesive compound 37 between the web 39 of thesill and the surface 34 of the tub or like.

The closure, generally designated by the numeral 40 in FIG. 1, comprisesa plurality of interconnected pliable panels such as 42, 44, 46, 48 and50, jamb-engaging stanchions 52 and 54, and intermediate stanchions suchas 56. As can be seen in FIG. 6, each of the stanchions is provided witha longitudinally'extending groove such as 58 and 60 along the edgeswhich are adjacent the nearest stanchion. The grooves slideably receiveT-head type beads 66 and 68 along the marginal vertical edges of thepliable panels to connect them with the stanchions in train-like form.To interlock the panels and the stanchions, T-shaped members or lockplates, such as that indicated by the numeral 69 of the jamb stanchionof FIG. 3 and by the numeral 70 of the intermediate stanchion areprovided and are connected by suitable means, as by the screws 71, tothe ends of the stanchion. The extending lip of the bar 72 of theT-shaped member overlaps the openings of the grooves of the stanchionsand blocks the bead and, consequently, the panels for movement with thestanchions. The stanchions are connected to the guide tracks by means ofa roller assembly included in their respective structures, whichassemblies are generally designated by the numeral 76. Each assembly isfastened as by the aforesaid screw 71 to the ends of the respectivestanchions. The roller assembly 76 includes bracket 89 having a lip 82which extends between the sides of the openings of the guide tracks andto the distal ends of which there is mounted a pair of the rollers 84.Thus, it is seen that there is provided a rolling closure adapted to bemoved between the closed position shown in FIG. 1 or either of thealternative opened positions illustrated in FIG. 2. A jamb stop member83 is mounted to the leg 28 of the jamb on the inside of the area to beenclosed by means of a rivet or the like to define, as will be apparenthereinafter, a trap for a latch-type flange 92 on the leading edge ofthe jamb stanchion in which latch there is a hole 94 for hooked-upengagement with the keeper 96 housed within the U-shaped cross sectionbetween the web and the longer legs of the jamb member and which latchis adapted to be received in the hole 94 as the latch is guided into thetrap. The keeper 96 may comprise a housing, a spring in the housing anda button biased outwardly. The jamb stanchion is also provided with anextending rib 98 for employment as a handle to open the closure from theinside of the enclosed area. Also, the end or jamb stanchion on theoutside surface is provided with a curvate handle 100 which is rivetedto the stanchion and is provided in the upper and lower surfaces thereofwith a slot or notch 102 so that the ball chain 104 may be utilized tohold the stanchions in close adjacent relation as is indicated in FIG. 2and FIG. 7 and, by means of a key-shaped slot 106 in the jamb, hold theentire closure panel in the position relative to the jamb indicated inFIG. 2that is, the open position.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the roller assembly 76includes a pair of rollers at each end of the stanchion and that therollers ride on the confronting spaced-apart, bent-over rims 119 and 121of the head member, the rollers being adjustable on movement of theclosure relative to the frame by reason of the slots 123 and 125 in thelip of the roller bracket. As can be seen at the upper left-hand cornerof FIG. 3, the jamb is provided with slots 127 and 127' at the upper andlower ends thereof to provide clearance for a bearing button 129, two ofwhich are provided as indicated on the iambengaging stanchion and, as isapparent from the top of FIG. 4, each rides in engagement with theconfronting surface of the head or sill. Preferably, these buttons areof low friction nylon material and are slideably received in the arcuatedepression of the head or sill which are also decorative in appearance.Each of the rollers of the roller assembly preferably includes a firstand a second roller 130 and 132, each of which has an axially projectingstem, one of which is a headed male type stud and one of which is femalefor mating engagement. Weep holes are preferably provided in the silland header member at spaced intervals along the length thereof.

It will be seen that the vertical members of the frame are of a uniformcross section throughout their length, with the exception of theaforesaid cutouts at the ends thereof to accommodate the nesting of thehead and sill members; and, also, the head and sill members are of acommon and uniform cross-sectional area throughout their length.Further, the intermediate stanchions, it will be noted, are of a commoncross-sectional area as are the end stanchions; and, by reason of thisstructure, assembly of the enclosure is relatively foolproof and isreadily adapted to be sold in an unassembled state or knocked downversion for ready assembly at a job installation site. The yieldableadjusting rollers by reason of the enlarged slots 123 and 125, FIG. 5,the diameter of the rollers relative to the depth of the openingsbetween the rim 119 and the web 120 of the sill and header,co-operate'such that in normal movement of the closure relative to theframe, the rollers ride on the rim of the head and the web of the silland minor adjustments in the previous construction at a job installationare compensated for while at the same time relative tilting of the endstanchion or jamb-engaging stanchion due to forces of a user not beingapplied at the immediate center of the vertical length of thejamb-engaging stanchion will not interfere with the operation of theclosure.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in whatis conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of theinvention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosedherein but it to be accorded the full scope of the claim so as toembrace any and all equivalent apparatus and articles.

What is claimed is:

1. A shower closure comprising, in combination, a head member at the topof said closure, a sill member at the bottom of said closure, saidmembers being substantially square in cross section with opposedelongated slots in the midportions of their facing sides, a plurality ofsubstantially vertical stanchions positioned at one side of saidmembers, said stanchions being longer than the spacing between theslotted sides of said members so that the stanchions overlap saidmembers, a plurality of brackets with one bracket being positioned ateach end of each stanchion, each of said brackets being formed toextend, from the stanchion end at which it is positioned, over and intothe slot of the adjacent member, a plurality of pairs of rollers witheach pair being mounted on a common axle passing through an aperture ina respective one of said brackets so that each bracket carries a rollerpair, said apertures being elongated vertically so that the roller pairscan float vertically relative to said brackets as well as rotate freely,said rollers being positioned in and proportioned to substantially fillthe cross section of said members so as to restrict movement of thebrackets in all directions except for free rolling movement along themembers, a plurality of flexible panels with each panel being slidablyinterlocked between adjacent ones of said stanchions, a plurality oflock plates with one plate being positioned at each end of eachstanchion so as to block sliding movement of said panels relative tosaid stanchions, and a plurality of fasteners with one fastener at eachend of each stanchion for securing both the lock plate and the bracketto the stanchion end.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,331,822 10/1943 Zechiel et al.4l54 2,774,973 12/1956 Aarnio 4149 2,885,000 5/1959 Merrill 4-1492,897,514 8/1959 Collins 4154 2,897,515 8/1959 Collins 4l54 2,911,65411/1959 Bruno 4-149 3,021,576 2/1962 Conroy 4149 3,037,555 6/1962Kochanowski 4l54 3,062,279 11/ 1962 Kochanowski 4154 3,074,077 1/ 1963Taubman 4149 3,102,581 9/1963 Kochanowski 4149 3,111,208 11/1963Grossman 4149 3,282,328 11/1966 Mushro et al. 4--149 LAVERNE D. GEIGER,Primary Examiner.

D. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner.

